


Otter Ribbons

by Julx3tte



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, During DH, Except it's not what you think, Gen, Horcrux Hunting, Ron walks into Hermione flashing Harry, Specifically between Ch. 11 and Ch. 12, Starting to understand how hard the journey's going to be, only light ron/hermione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 05:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11593872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julx3tte/pseuds/Julx3tte
Summary: Prompt Idea: Ron walks into Hermione lifting up her shirt in front of Harry. What he doesn’t realize at first is that her chest is covered in hair.This happens somewhere between The Bribe (Ch. 11) and Magic is Might (Ch. 12) in Deathly Hallows. After realizing Umbridge has the locket, they spend a month planning their infiltration of the Ministry. I imagine this is in the thick of that, where a solid plan hasn’t formed, and they’re starting to lose morale. Along the way they find a box.





	Otter Ribbons

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to explore a few key ideas. I like that during this part of the story, the ideas are incomplete, because they're incomplete in my head. The main things the trio has going for them are a) Harry's Incorruptibility (the noble git thing), b) Hermione's belief (going as far as to break rules and morals to back it up), and c) Ron's loyalty. What kinds of things would test those traits, and what are the consequences?
> 
> I'm a much better non-fiction writer than I am at writing fiction, so forgive if the pace or descriptions are off. Writing tips happily welcomed. Thinking with me (about the characters and ideas) even more welcomed.

“Harry, come look at this.”

Grimmauld Place is clean. It’s clean beyond Kreacher’s vigorous scouring of every possible surface since he’d been given Regulus’ locket. The usual parchments – filled with maps and scribbles taken over several weeks of surveillance – had been cleared from the kitchen table. On the table, there is a small box, simply labeled “For Barny and Co.”

Hermione has been staring at the box for the better part of an hour, wondering what to say to Harry, and especially Ron. The brief glimpses of Mr. Weasley at the Ministry are all the news Ron's had of his family; she didn't want to rattle him so suddenly. Harry, she reasons, would be less affected - he knew better than anyone what it's like to not to have a family. It's why she has to follow this road and left her parents in Australia. Others have given up more.

Harry walks in groggily, interrupting her thoughts. He rubs his eyes, glasses askew, and blinks several times as he sees notes stacked and pinned onto a corkboard. “What’s all this then?” 

Hermione pushes away her coffee, stands up, and walks around to stand next to Harry in front of the box. “I found something,” she says. “I think it was the twins', from a few years ago. Even if it’s not useful, it might be fun to see what’s inside.” She raises her eyebrows at him, and it reminds him of a look McGonagall gave him when she pulled him aside to join the Quidditch team his first year.

Harry breaks the silence: “Let’s see then.” He opens the box with a quick slash of his wand, and they peer inside.

Inside are three ribbons, about the length of Harry’s arm. The first looks like a thin fur: brown, fuzzy, the long edges forming a curved lip. The second was a bright Weasley red, with seven freckle-like spots down the center line.

(“That’s Ron’s then,” says Hermione.)

The third is deep emerald green with an ink blot on one end.

Hermione reaches for hers and ties her hair up with it, the brown of the ribbon blending in with her hair. Immediately, her eyes open wide and she blushes. “We should have known better,” she says as she shakes her head. “Look.”

She turns towards Harry and lifts up her shirt. Harry raises an eyebrow: “What are you doing Herm-“

Then, his voice cuts out and he brings a hand up scratch his chin. “ Just like second year eh?”

Hermione’s torso is a wall of fur: it obscures her features, and tufts of hair almost completely hide what’s under her shirt.

"I don't think it's supposed to go on my hair," she laughs.

Suddenly, they hear a gasp from the door. Hermione locks eyes with Ron, standing in shock by the doorframe. “It’s not what you think Ron!”

Ron walks forward, unable to see all of the fur. “Not what I think, with you holding your shirt up in front of Harry?” He gets to the pair, blush prepared, angry words at the ready (she still hasn’t pulled her shirt down), before stopping completely as soon as he gets sight.

“’Mione you’re a bear!”

“Like what you see?” she says with a wink, as she pulls her shirt down. Harry hands Ron his ribbon as he takes in the situation.

“Where’d you get these,” Ron asks cautiously as he takes the ribbon.

“Hermione found a box with Fred’s name on it and we opened it.”

Ron’s expression turns sour. “You opened it without me?”

“We’d just opened it when you walked in-” replies Hermione. Sheshould have known he'd be fine; that he's a brother to Harry just as she is a sister. And that he understood why he had to leave his family behind too.

“I’d just walked in a minute ago,” Harry adds.

Ron considers the two. Truthfully, he was disappointed. This box was from his brother, and it was Hermione that found it. He should have been told first. For all of Hermione’s emphasis on details, his presence is one that he expects her to think of.

It doesn’t help that he walked in seeing what he did: Hermione raising her shirt in front of Harry, who certainly isn’t covering his eyes. Even if he didn’t immediately see the bear (otter, he pieces together) fur, perhaps they should have led with that. Not that the fur stops him from staring too, when he realizes it’s still her chest.

On the other hand, though, he knows they mean nothing by it. They’re the pair that has lost their families already, and they’ve talked about that, late in the evenings. Besides, Harry is their brother: his in all but legal adoption, and Hermione’s for reasons he’s accepted he can’t understand.

He makes his choice.

“So what does yours do mate,” he points at Harry.

With a shrug, Harry wraps the ribbon around his forearm. A second later, his hair erupts into flame. His normal jet-black mess becomes red, though darker than the Ron’s. Rather, it’s the same tone as the green on the ribbon and the green in his eyes. It’s the same red he once saw in a mirror, standing next to him. Ron points him to the window, to see his reflection, and he looks at himself longingly.

Ron opts to tie it around his bicep. The space above his head shimmers, sparkles, and becomes gold. A crown materializes with seven red stones, and seven letters. At the peak of a crown, is a small lion, rubies for eyes. Ron touches each stone, tracing the R on the largest stone, and then puts his face in his hands.

Hermione, mouth still holding a silent “O,” realizes to put hers on her arm too, instead of her hair. She feels her chest return to normal. (Ron, who _wasn’t looking_ , notices the _curve_ return). Her hair floats, braiding itself along with a purple ribbon, while a purple teardrop earring appears on each ear. She bites her lip to stop from laughing.

They sit in silence for a few moments – the arm-banded trio, before they all speak at the same time.

“When did they…” Ron wonders.

“…we need Polyjuice to…” Hermione exclaims.

“…and they're from Ginny,” Harry whispers.

Then their eyes meet, darting back and forth. “The Locket” remains unspoken, as they settle into the table, replacing the box for the notes on the board.

**Author's Note:**

> The monologues are incomplete. Hermione hasn’t learned about the Hallows yet, and she’s never really tempted by the Horcruxes, so she understands she needs to stay and fight but doesn’t act on the why quite yet: that this is more important and she will have sacrificed the least of the trio by the end of it. Still, she’s beginning to justify her mistakes with their eventual victory, which she has to believe in to nullify her mistakes. Ron realizes this and chooses to remain loyal here, though that changes when they get the Locket. Harry, incorruptible, understands too: she believes in him, even when he doesn’t. 
> 
> The idea is that Ginny and Fred come up with the armbands and leave them for the trio to find. Each armband is a gift from Ginny.
> 
> The ink blot comes from here, obviously a little modified: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8707321


End file.
